Old Foto Friday

Lindsay-loo, Jeanne and me at Lagoon. This was the summer before our senior year (I'm pretty sure, it could've been the summer before our junior year). And yeah, I'm still a poser in pictures.

New York Christmas Trees

Tonight the tree at Rockefeller Center was lit up. I moved to the City in September, and that first December I was pretty excited to see the tree. I didn't have my blog at that time, so I'm going to share some pictures from then. I'd share some memories, but I have an awful memory and pretty much remember just feeling like it was magical.

 

When you don't live in New York, you tend to think that the tree at Rockefeller is the tree of the city. But it's really just one of many. I really liked the tree at Lincoln Center, which is lit up at Winter Fest, an event full of music, lights, people and hot chocolate. 

The next year, before leaving for Salt Lake to work with Sundance, I went to the tree lighting at Bryant Park. I like how each of the trees are distinct from one another.

Feeling the Stress

I have two weeks of school left (technically three I guess if you count Finals week, but I don't have any finals, so...). Ever. This semester has literally flew by. I remember thinking back in August that I still had so much time left for my projects. But I don't.

And all of a sudden I felt stressed about it all. I've been very checked out and laid back (more than normal) all semester, so this is kinda strange. Maybe I'm afraid I won't graduate. Because that would be really, really sad.

Lincoln on Thanksgiving

This year my Thanksgiving Movie was Lincoln, the Steven Spielberg-directed, Daniel Day-Lewis-starring movie about the last months of President Lincoln's life as he worked to get the 13th Amendment passed. The move is extraordinary. I don't know if I have enough awesome words to convey how much I loved this movie. Lincoln is without a doubt the best President ever, and it is amazing how Day-Lewis brings him to life. It's as if I spent the evening with the President himself. I could feel his weariness of the war, his desire to make men free, his love for America.

Spielberg generally directs with a lot more flair, but here he lets the actors all do their things (and there's  a lot of them) with very simple camera movements. The scenes are lit sparcely (shot by Janusz Kaminski, longtime cinematographer for Spielberg) as perhaps it would be like in 1865. The White House itself is an office as much as it is a home, with people coming and going, the President doing his work throughout.

The cast is pretty incredible. Day-Lewis is nothing short of amazing. He's surrounded by Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace (!). My favorite, other than Lincoln himself, was Jared Harris as Ulysses S. Grant. Harris is a brit known mostly for his role on Mad Men and I loved seeing him doing this completely different role. Day-Lewis is clearly the star, but all the other characters get their chance to shine and do so much with their little screen time.

Even though I knew how everything would turn out, the political maneuvering was intense and when the final vote was taken I was anxious to see what would happen. When Lincoln leaves the White House to attend a play at Ford Theater, I wanted to yell at him to not go. I cried when he died. What a remarkable man. 

I got chills watching a particular scene where the President, holed up with his Cabinet in the White House, forcefully conveys to them why this Amendment is so important--why right now, at this moment, it must be seen through. Then, at the end, when the Amendment has been passes, there's a simple scene of Lincoln sitting on a porch with Ulysses S. Grant. He speaks with so much compassion about the reinstatement of the Southern states and the men who fought for the Confederacy. It's beautiful.

See the movie. It's awesome.

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving this year was pretty great. Jared and Jojo hosted at their new home, and all the space was really nice. We had food, pie, laughter, a few tears (from the baby) and a game of Phase 10, which I won while having the second highest amount of points. Hope yours was just as awesome.

A Friends Thanksgiving

This is my favorite holiday-themed episode, ever. Brad Pitt guest stars as a high school friend of Ross, Rachel and Monica. I could probably quote this entire episode with my best friend Lindsay-loo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Scholarship Luncheon

Remember how I received a scholarship for this semester? Well, because of that I get to attend all sorts of cool things. Today it was the annual Scholarship Luncheon at Red Butte Garden. I love when I get to mingle with cool people who are interested in what I'm interested in and want to help me land a job when I graduate. 

I'm really grateful to have gotten the scholarship. I know I'm not the smartest person in my program, but I'm passionate about transit, I work hard and I want to make the world a better place.

Old Foto Friday

My friend Holly's wedding. This was in Pocatello, summer of 2001 or 2002 (I can't remember). That's me on the far left, Natalie B., Jill, Holly the bride, Jessica and Natalie S. We all worked at Wendy's and were good friends. Good ol'Wendy's.

Jazz Game

It snowed like crazy yesterday in Salt Lake. But that didn't stop Emily, Mom, Ivy, Elliett, Mo and myself from going to the Jazz/Suns game last night. It did, however, mean we had to get all bundled up.

After leading the whole game, it looked as though the Jazz might blow it in the last half of the fourth quarter. They pulled out the victory though, and we were rewarded with lots of snow falling as we left the arena.

Old Foto Friday

This was a family trip we took to Yellowstone in July 1993. Em  and are both wearing purple shirts, but I have accessorized with a massive bow in my hair and pink sweater while Em decided to forgo her arms. I think my dad is wearing a Celtics hat--I do not remember him being a fan of them. When I see old pictures of Jared I'm struck by how much Mo looks like his dad! And again, Em is the tall one (or at least the same height as Jared).

Time to Vote

Election Day!!

Just like when I was in New York, I got up early to vote right when the polls opened. It took about thirty minutes to get in and out. And the experience was awesome, with people being nice and considerate and helpful, all of us exercisin' our right to vote for our leaders. And getting stickers, which I wore all day with pride. Now I'm watching the results come in on PBS. It won't be exactly like my election experience in New York, but I do hope to have a bowl of popcorn and a Dr. Pepper.

My friend at work asked what I would do if Romney won, and I said I'd just go on living my life. Obviously I'd be a little bummed, but life goes on.

Bad Luck

Yesterday I broke a mirror that I've had for quite some time. I'm not particularly superstitious, but I really can't afford 7 years of bad luck right now. I'm graduating in a month and need all the help and luck I can get to get hired. I also need some help with the motivation to finish all my assignments. Also, I'm nearly thirty and still single, so seven more years of bad luck with dating would be nearly unbearable.

So if everyone could keep their fingers crossed for me, just a little superstitiously, maybe I can avoid the seven years of bad luck. :)

Book Club: The Sleeping Beauty

Last night I had two book clubs! The first was with my former co-workers at Myriad that we've been doing since we all read The Hunger Games. We meet at Red Robin after work and talk about the book while we eat fries and hamburgers. The book this month was The Princess Bride, and since everyone loved it we didn't have a whole lot to talk about it. But really, who doesn't love the classic tale of true love, intrigue, sword fighting and fire swamps?!

The second was my monthly book club started by my friend Pam. It was my turn to host, which is always fun. We were short three of our members this time, so it was a small, intimate gathering of just three. Our book this month was The Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey. This book took a good 100+ pages to get interesting, and even then it wasn't entirely engaging to me. More than once I wondered if the trials to gain the princess was really what the whole book was going to be about. There were story parts that got stranded and were never returned to, which was kind of annoying. Also, there was a lot of describing going on, and I felt it needed to be edited a lot. That being said, we had a lot to discuss and the night was wonderful.

No picture taken. Oops.

Old Foto Friday

My family had a dog when I was growing up. Max was a part of my life from when I was 7 to 19. I have a lot of pictures of him. I came across this one when finding the pictures for last week. This was Spring '98.